The Forbes website. There is no suggestion that any of the contributors whose stories are pictured here have asked for payments from PR companies

US business publisher Forbes has launched an investigation after a freelance journalist who claimed to be a contributor to its 1,800-strong digital network offered to write a company profile in return for a £300 payment from its PR agency.

The journalist, who has not been named, asked for “someone to fund my time” saying they were “only paid a very small sum by Forbes which doesn’t stretch far”.

The request was turned down by Rich Leigh and Company, a Gloucester- and Manchester-based PR company, which posted the email on Twitter.

The freelancer said the payment would help make a “better, more in-depth article I think that tells the founder story in detail, explores the market and discusses current and future trends”.

The suggested £300 payment, or £30 an hour for 10 hours’ work, would “cover spending 1-2 hours talking to founders by Skype or in person, then researching and writing a draft, sharing with subject to check accuracy and facts, editing and finally publishing final draft to Forbes (presumably where you’d like the post to go?)”.

In a statement, Forbes said: “Forbes takes this matter very seriously and is investigating the situation.

“Under the terms and conditions of the contributor contract that Forbes has with each of its contributors, no contributor should be requesting or receiving funds from third parties to write on specific subjects.”

About 1,000 freelance journalists contribute to the Forbes platform, alongside a core group of full-time reporters, creating and self-publishing their content online under the Forbes banner.

The freelance journalists are paid according to the amount of traffic they generate. A small handful have earned more than $100,000 a year but most are much smaller, typically around the $10,000 mark, the company has previously said.

The message to the PR agency began: “Thanks for your email – I think this is an interesting company because of the reasons you share below – also the fact its model is topical and the story behind the founders sounds like an interesting journey.

“I’d be happy to cover it but I’m a freelancer with a contributor platform at Forbes so if I am doing a company profile I do ask for someone to fund my time (as a contributor not Forbes staff I am only paid a very small sum by Forbes which doesn’t stretch far) which is 10 hours work @ 30ph = £300.”

Agency founder Rich Leigh said he was shocked to receive the request which prompted him to put it on Twitter.

“It’s the first time I have seen anything like this in eight-plus years,” he said. “I can’t say it’s indicative of the shifting media landscape but at the same time there is something about it that is definitely not right. Maybe it’s another nail in the coffin of objective reporting.”

He added: “I’ve no intention to name and shame, I’m quite keen to avoid that, because this person might be having a really hard-up month. But equally I wanted people to look at it and say ‘this is going on’. My concern is there might be brands and agencies who would pay for that and that completely takes away any objectivity.

“As a PR company you would expect us to want coverage for our clients, but I want it to be on merit.”